Can I Keep You?
by Starian Princess
Summary: Tea asks Mokuba to watch the fireworks with her on New Year's, much to his delight. But what happens when he realizes that she may have feelings for his brother?
1. Part 1

**Can I Keep You?  
****By: Starian Princess**

_Tea invites Mokuba to watch the fireworks with her on New Year's, much to the young Kaiba's delight. But is this a chance for him to set her up with his older brother- who he thinks desperately needs a girlfriend? Or will he keep her all to himself for one special night?_

Part 1

The lights glimmered brightly from atop the Ferris wheel as two figures walked at a steady pace towards the exit. One of the two, a raven-haired boy, had latched onto the taller figure and both were giggling at the thought of the wonderful day they had spent together.

"Thank you so much for coming with me to the amusement park today, Tea."

Turning to her younger companion, the brunette flashed a smile and winked. "No problem Mokuba. I did have tons of fun myself, you know."

"Really? Well, then I'm all the more glad that you came with me today!" With utter glee, the young Kaiba began pulling his friend toward a pink truck across the street.

And getting dragged along; the dancer could only laugh in amusement. "Where are we going Mokuba?"

"I'm gonna treat you to an ice cream cone of course!"

Stopping beside the vehicle, Tea peered inside the small window to check whether someone would attend to them or not. Seeing a man facing the other way, she knocked lightly on the outside of the van to get his attention.

She then looked down at the excited youngster beside her, who was no doubt already planning on what flavor to get.

"I was quite surprised that your brother actually let me take you, you know." She confessed, picturing the normally scowling CEO in her thoughts.

"Big brother isn't that mean, Tea. You should know with all the times you've been at our house, he actually isn't that bad around you right?"

She smiled. Truly, one of the only people capable of seeing through the cold duelist's veneer was none other than his own brother. It warmed her heart to know that at least with Mokuba, the teen could be himself. So many times had she tried to understand him, and she did feel that little by little she was being allowed to see who he really was.

She remembered countless times walking along the mansion's trails and gardens with Seto. Although he would usually remain silent as she did most of the talking, there were still the special moments when she'd catch a glimpse of the faintest smile lingering on his lips. These were, by far, one of the heavenliest moments in her life, she had to admit.

"Well, I'd have to agree with you. Kaiba really isn't that bad. He just needs the right person to bring out the best in him, much like you do." Picturing someone perfect with the one people at school normally called, "The Ice Glacier of Domino", Tea couldn't hide the brightest smile from appearing on her face. She didn't catch the look of disappointment cross Mokuba's though.

At first, the young Kaiba looked up in astonishment at the dancer. Her eyes had been twinkling, with all the sincerity in her words. And her gaze was all innocently blunt yet unquestionably loving in a sense. Could she have been possibly hinting that she was interested in his older brother?

His eyebrows creased as a frown followed his look of surprise. Although he'd always dreamt of the day his brother would find that special someone, he'd never really thought that that someone could be Tea. True, he'd always looked up to the girl and even called her "big sister Tea" at times, and that would've been one of the clear signs showing his brother and his "sister" were perfect for each other. But on the other hand, something seemed so awfully wrong to him about the whole arrangement.

Things could be falling into place right in front of him that very second. Perhaps Tea really did like Seto and for all he knew, his brother could feel the same way. All he had to do was watch from the side and let things happen for those two. So why couldn't he wholeheartedly want something so wonderful to happen between the two people who meant the world to him?

The answer suddenly hit him like a ton of bricks.

'It's because… I like her… I like Tea a lot more than I ever realized before.' He blushed a dark crimson shade as he looked up at the brunette just in time to catch her gaze.

"So what'll it be?"

"Huh?" Mokuba had lost track of everything. Had they been discussing something very important?

"What flavor are you getting?"

Sighing in relief that all she was asking for was what flavor he wanted, he smiled and answered, "Chocolate fudge!"

Tea grinned at his choice, inwardly thinking if she should get the same.

"Hmm… I'll get strawberry then." After deciding and giving both orders to the man inside the ice cream truck, she motioned for the raven-haired boy to come and sit with her on a bench beside the vehicle.

"Say, Mokuba?"

"What is it, Tea?" The light question had sort of caught him off guard. He stared questioningly awaiting her reply.

She simply winked playfully and answered in a cheery tone, "Do you wanna watch the fireworks with me tomorrow?"

"I'd… I'd love to!" Barely able to contain himself and the sheer happiness he felt inside, he launched himself at the dancer in a warm hug.

Tea giggled in delight. She was glad that she could make him happy. Mokuba meant the world to her.

"Let's meet at the bridge then at around 6:00 okay?"

"Yep!" He couldn't believe it. He may just have said "yes" to his first date ever. Although they had spent the day together to begin with, an amusement park just didn't have the romantic feel for him. He slightly wondered how come lots of couples liked going to carnivals and amusement parks on dates. They simply screamed the words "NO PRIVACY".

A sigh brought him back to looking at the girl beside him.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh it's nothing… Just that this is my first time celebrating New Year's without the gang. I felt really sad when Joey and Serenity went to visit their mom in Okinawa, Yugi and his grandpa went to Egypt to see his Dad, and even Tristan, Mai and Duke weren't going to be around. I had hoped maybe Ryou would be here, but then he left for England to visit his Dad yesterday. I'm glad they went to see their families but still, I wonder if they ever thought of me when they left. My parents aren't around because they're caught up with work in America. I was really about to cry and all, but then I realized…"

Mokuba looked up to see a stream of tears fall down her cheek.

"Tea…"

"I realized that you and your brother _are_ here and no matter what, you two kept me company and took care of me. For that, Mokuba, I am very grateful and there's no one else I'd rather be with tomorrow than you and your brother."

Her face lighting up with just the thought of being with him made Mokuba want to throw his arms around her again. But what stopped him was that last part of her sentence.

"You want big brother to come?" He tried to hide the distress in his voice by putting on a kind smile place. He doubted that would get by Tea though.

"Well, yeah. Will he be busy at work tomorrow?" His only consolation would be that she didn't even stop to think of another reason as to why he could be displeased about his brother coming. Now, there was an opening for him to still be able to spend the night alone with her. He really didn't like lying to Tea but another part of him really wanted to be with her, and just her.

"Sort of. You know him; he never likes leaving things unfinished." The smile _would_ have helped if it wasn't for the fact that he was twitching all over. But apparently, Tea didn't seem to notice so that was a good thing.

"Oh, that's too bad… Anyways," Getting up, he followed her back to the small window where the man was waiting for them to get their ice cream. "I should be taking you home now or I'll never hear the end of it from Kaiba."

**-TBC-**


	2. Part 2

**Can I Keep You?  
****By: Starian Princess**

Part 2

It was late afternoon as Mokuba Kaiba sat on his bed, carefully thinking over his situation again. After they had gotten their ice creams yesterday, he and Tea had walked all the way to the mansion. Not that he minded though. They had engaged in a conversation that went from school to girls. He sighed as he remembered how Tea had casually asked.

After talking about how awful some teachers could be like his Math teacher who loved tormenting him and how he didn't want to tell Seto since he wanted to deal with this himself, Tea had suddenly popped in, "So are there girls in your class?"

He hadn't really thought about it and answered almost immediately, "Yeah, there are. In fact, there's this dance thing next month at school where the guys are supposed to ask someone to be their partner and preferably, we haveto ask someone from our class."

"Oh? We didn't have many interactions back when we were in elementary." Tea thoughtfully stated then she'd gone further with asking, "So do you have a particular girl in mind already?"

Almost immediately did he picture the dancer beside him in a long flowing evening gown, maybe with frills or just a black one that heightened her natural curves? But of course he couldn't voice out his musings, so he'd turned to the girl and answered, "Nah, I don't think I want to go to this thing anyways."

"What! You don't mean that, do you?" The distress was so evident in her voice that he had almost decided to take back what he had stated. But no, he knew the truth. The one thing that he wanted most was to openly be able to say how much his "big sister" meant to him, and the dance was the perfect place to start. But in reality, how could he possibly ask her to it?

He really loved her, he did. Ever since the day she had helped him escape from the ghouls in Battle City, he knew in his heart that he'd do anything to make her happy.

He closed his eyes as he pictured her face with the brightest smile in the world. He would have loved to think that he was the reason for it.

He opened his eyes and as a single tear fell as he realized, 'Even if it meant that I wouldn't exactly be the person to receive it, it would still be alright.'

And with the determination still in his eyes, he jumped off the bed ready to carry out what he needed to do, what he_wanted_ to do for the two people who would appreciate it the most.

* * *

Walking through the crowd, he finally reached the bridge and the sight that greeted him was the best thing he'd seen all day.

Waving at him, wearing a white kimono with pink sakura petals was the girl that had captivated his very soul.

He smiled boyishly as he waved back. He was happy to see her and he needn't speak for he knew it showed.

"Were you waiting long?" He inquired, fixing his gaze on her face. He used that time to take in her features; the way her hair would sway so gracefully with the wind, the way her eyes could shimmer so beautifully during the night, the way her lips curved into the perfect smile, and of course the way she blushed as she noticed his intense gaze at her.

"No, it's fine. I just got here even." She was also the cutest thing in the world, he'd added to his mental list of adjectives used to describe her with. The way she fidgeted under his stare made him feel like he was much older than his age. It made him feel that she truly regarded him as a person, hisown person.

He turned to look at the evening sky. The stars were twinkling and his smile widened for he knew, it was a perfect night. Everything seemed to be perfect today and he slightly faltered with the plan that he had imprinted in his head.

'I wonder if this is a sign for me to-' He stopped mid-thought. No, he knew it wasn't right. He had come to meet her with a mission. That's right, he had an important mission to fulfill and if he didn't hurry, he would miss his chance.

After quickly glancing at his watch for a few brief seconds, he turned to look again at the dancer and gulped.

'It's now or never!'

"Hey um… Tea, do you remember that dance we were talking about yesterday?" To this, she turned to him and nodded her head. Her eyes trained on his as she waited for where this conversation would go.

"I was wondering… Since you were disappointed about me not going and all, I was well… thinking… if maybe… you could go with me to it…" He mumbled the last part and awaited her verdict, inwardly wondering if she'd caught everything he'd said.

A giggle from his companion proved that she had. He looked up as the flush color on his cheeks grew far more evident than when he had asked her the question. He gasped softly though, as he watched her eyes glitter far brighter. That could only mean one thing.

"I would love to." He almost started to rejoice when a hand cupped his cheek.

He tentatively looked up again.

"But don't you think I'm a bit too old though?" It wasn't a refusal because he could hear the amusement clearly in her voice. So he smiled shaking his head and answering, "Of course not. You're perfect. You'dbe the perfect date."

He didn't know what her reaction would be for he knew he had hinted something there. But his eyes widened as he felt her lean forward and give him a quick kiss on the forehead.

"Thank you Mokuba. You're the sweetest thing." She whispered in his ear before she drew back.

A few minutes passed as his face turned into one of complete seriousness. Putting the situation earlier aside, he gulped again before letting the words out.

"Could I ask you another question, Tea?"

"Sure." She answered, not facing him. And in his heart he knew, she expected that he would ask this next question.

"Honestly, do you like my big brother?"

Silence followed and he sighed, coming to the conclusion that she would not give him an answer.

"Yes, I do. Perhaps, more than he would ever realize, Mokuba, I do like him very much." Once again she had surprised him. He turned to face her.

And she turned to face him. "But that's our little secret for now, okay?" She smiled. She seemed to be taking this a lot better than he'd expected. Yes, he knew she was strong.

"Now, Mokuba, could I ask you a question?"

"Um… sure!" He answered almost immediately as he regarded her. What could there possibly be left to ask?

As he thought this, he failed to realize her coming closer and going down in a crouching position so that they were within eye level.

"Can I keep you?"

"What?" For the second time, his eyes widened. What was she saying?

"Mokuba, no matter what happens I want to always be here for you. I want to be at least one of the people you run to when you need help. So can I keep you right here?" He watched as she gestured to her chest, right over her heart.

And he smiled as tears began to fall down his cheeks.

"Always."

* * *

The sky began to grow brighter as the first wave of fireworks covered the sky. Tea stared up as she wiped away the last of her earlier tears.

"Now, where did Mokuba run off to?" She muttered, asking no one in particular. The young Kaiba had simply took off ten minutes ago saying that he needed to use the toilet. She silently prayed for him to return soon since she didn't want to be left to watch the fireworks alone.

"Gardner?"

She turned around to face none other than his older brother.

"Kaiba? What are you doing here?"

"That was what I was going to ask you." He then placed a hand in his pocket and pulled out a slightly crumpled note.

"Mokuba asked me to meet him here."

"Well, that's odd. I asked Mokuba to meet _me_ here." As she was about to add that the boy had told her that he was busy with work tonight, her eyes widened as realization dawned her.

She turned to face the other brunette and couldn't help but smile. It seemed that he had comprehended the little ploy as well. But just before any of them could say anything, the sky began to fill with more firecrackers as the second wave broke out.

They both looked up, too captivated to say anything.

Unknown to either one of them though, a boy stood hidden amongst the crowd. He brought a hand up to touch the place where he had received his first kiss from the dancer.

And he too smiled as he watched his older brother edge closer towards girl, carefully planting a hand on the small of her back and guiding her closer to stand beside him.

**-OWARI-**

_"I'm like a child in a chocolate shop looking for the perfect piece of chocolate. And just when I'm about to cry because I can't seem to find any, you come along and I realize that I don't need chocolates. You're the sweetest thing."_


End file.
